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Sunday, 11 October 2015

ARC Review: Candidate (The Black Mage #3) by Rachel E. Carter

Goodreads Synopsis:

Welcome to the Candidacy. Where dreams go to die.Twenty-year-old
Ryiah is a black mage of Combat, but she is nottheBlack Mage. Yet. She’s had her eyes on
the legendary robe for as long as she can remember, and in just one year she
will have a chance at her country’s prodigious –and only- tourney for mages...
Too bad she is going up against a certain non-heir. The one person she has yet
to beat.

Meanwhile Ry has a year to prove herself in her
new role as a war mage and the prince’s betrothed. Neither is quite what she
expected and complications arise on both fronts. War is on the horizon, and
with so many enemies the kingdom of Jerar’s fate is more than ever at risk.

The Candidacy finally arrives, but it’s only the
beginning. Nothing can prepare her for what comes next.

Review:

***I received the
eBook free as a review copy from the author in exchange for an honest review***

Wow. Rachel as done it again! Just thinking about this book
makes me grin, and also want to throttle something – an unusual combination but
you’ll understand once you’ve read it (which you totally should. And soon,
because I need to fangirl with someone okay? Okay)

There’s so much to say about this book and so much I can’t
say for fear of spoiling, so I’ll start with the fact that everything has stepped up a level. The world, the character depth, the “oh my god that did not
just happen” moments all got a whole lot greater and I couldn’t be happier
about it. As a reader I often go into books (particularly sequels) excited as well as nervous but I found that I
was only excited (jumping up and down excited no less) because I knew that even
if the author threw in hundreds of curveballs and killed off characters, I’d
still thoroughly enjoy it. And she did. And I did.

One of the biggest surprises for me was the amount of time
spent away from my beloved Darren (granted it’s probable that I would have
wanted more scenes even if we saw him every other page…) This isn’t a “romance”
series and so their relationship didn’t take centre stage, which made me
treasure those moments even more; while also opening the story to many
different directions.

In this instalment tensions are rising throughout the world,
revealing secrets and characteristics people would prefer to be kept quiet.
True colours are starting to come through… My non-spoiler low down of
characters: love bad-ass female protagonist, want to marry 1 prince and kill the
other, a certain king is full of ****, the kind best friend is someone everyone
should have in their life, MC’s parents break my heart, the brothers… Yet to be
decided.

What it comes down to is the fact that this book has
everything I could have asked for, so if you’re like me and love an epic
fantasy series with a kick-ass heroine, momentous plot, complex characters and
enough action/romance to be satisfying, picking it up is a no-brainer.

Favourite Quotes:

“That’s the thing about enemies. You never know who they
could end up being.”“Darren wasn’t
darkness, and I wasn’t his light.

I needed to show him he
was fire. My fire. Something filled with light. Something good. Something just
like my but wrapped up so tightly in his own barrier of darkness it could burn.
Unless you knew how to unravel him.

Pressing
my lips to his I shut my eyes and channelled my one single promise.

Disclaimer

I can guarantee that all of my reviews are honest, which includes the reviews I have written based on review copies I have received which are clearly specified. The fact that they are review copies has no impact on my thoughts and opinions stated in the review. I do not receive any form of monetary compensation for my reviews from authors/publishers.